


Our Sweetest Melody

by kitkatdimples



Category: SBFIVE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Falling In Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Romantic Fluff, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 10:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25469122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatdimples/pseuds/kitkatdimples
Summary: Copter is living out his dream.  He's the lead vocal of an internationally famous band, their songs are hitting the top of the charts, and he has so many fans out there who truly love and support 6MOONS.Everything is so perfect in Copter's world, except for just one problem.Copter is falling head over heels for Kimmon, the undeniably handsome and charming leader of 6MOONS, and, no matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to stop himself.
Relationships: Copter Panuwat Kerdthongtavee/Kimmon Varodom Khemmonta
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	1. The Little Problem

**Author's Note:**

> * Note: This is set in an alternate universe where the six lead actors of 2MoonsTheSeries-Season 1 are in a popular band called "6MOONS."
> 
> * Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction using characters that are based on Kimmon and Copter (+ the rest of SBFIVE and Godt), but it really has nothing to do with their real selves.

**Chapter 1: The Little Problem**

_Random 6MOONS Fact #1: Kimmon is the designated leader of 6MOONS, despite being the second oldest in the group. He's the drummer of the team._

***

Copter's life right now was literally a dream come true. Everything was so much more than anything that he had ever dreamed of, ever since he was a little child.

It had all started when he was about six years old. He remembered feeling so wonderfully awed when he watched for the first time all the beautiful people singing and dancing to lovely melodies on the TV screen. He remembered memorizing all the dance routines that he saw and imitating all the songs that he heard so that he could perform them everyday, in front of anyone who came across his way. He remembered announcing to his family once and for all that he would become one of them, one of those wondrous stars that will shine bright on the stage and captivate everyone in the audience. 

Ever since then, Copter never stopped running on that path to his dreams.

Of course, there were countless stumbling blocks and pitfalls throughout his journey. More often than not, he suffered harsh rejection and tasted the bitterness of defeat. Many nights, he would silently cry himself to sleep, wondering if there would ever be a day when he would be given the chance to even stand on a stage. 

Yet, despite all the downfalls and all the losses, Copter never gave up pursuing his one and only dream until, at last, he had finally made it. 

On the day when he stood on the stage with his fellow 6MOONS members, right before their official debut, Copter had felt so numb at first. Thinking about it now, he was probably scared. So afraid that he was just in one of those dreams that he always had, the hurtful ones where he would wake up the second he was about to sing into the microphone. But it wasn't a dream. After the six of them came off the stage and were congratulating each other for their successful debut performance, Copter had finally cried. He had wept tears of happiness, of gratitude, and of relief that everything he had just experienced was actually REAL.

The days that followed were definitely the happiest days of his life. Sure, they were physically rough on him, as most of his days were filled with back-to-back performances, events, interviews, practice, etc. and he was consequently sleep-deprived most of the time. Yet, Copter completely forgot about all his exhaustion whenever he was on stage, singing his heart out to a crowd of fans who wholeheartedly cheered for them.

So, yes, he was happy. _Ecstatic._ Everything was truly wonderful in his life, except for one little problem that was recently bothering Copter. _A lot._ Especially when this little problem seemed to be steadily growing in its severity little by little, day by day.

Quite frankly, it really didn't bother him so much at first because he had initially brushed it off as something that was normal. But, nowadays, Copter was having trouble rationalizing this little problem because he was starting to realize that it was becoming something that was far off from what would be considered "normal."

"Copter!"

"AAAAACH!!! 

Copter yelped when a sudden shout woke him up from his thoughts. His heart literally stopped for a second when he came back to his senses and processed what was right in front of him: the face of a grinning Kimmon that was merely a couple of inches away from his own. 

_Oh my god!_

Upon noticing the close proximity, Copter shrieked again and tried to step back immediately. But, of course, being his oh-so-clumsy self, he ended up tripping on himself and began to lose his balance. Flailing his arms helplessly in the air, Copter shut his eyes tight and braced himself for what was going to be a painful crash to the ground.

A few seconds ticked by.

"Gonna get up anytime soon?"

_Huh?_

Realizing that he wasn't feeling any sort of pain, Copter cautiously opened his eyes. His hero was an amused-looking Kimmon, who currently had his arms wrapped around Copter's waist in order to prevent him from falling. 

Copter blinked. 

His brain was having a difficult time processing the entire situation because he was staring right into the eyes of his current "little problem." The more he stared, the more he started to get lost in those twinkling black eyes, and he couldn't take his eyes off them, and he was starting to think that he could spend forever just gazing into them, and...

"Baby, as much as I love holding you, my arms are getting a little tired," Kimmon teasingly said, which snapped Copter back into reality.

_OH SHIT!!!_

Stammering an apology, Copter quickly balanced himself up with the help of Kimmon, who was still grinning in amusement. 

What in the world was wrong with himself lately?! Copter could hear his heart pounding furiously in his ears. He hoped that it was all in his head because, given the deafening volume, he was pretty sure that Kimmon could hear it too. 

He really just wanted to bang his head on the wall right now.

"Awww, my little Copgi wanted to stay in P'Kim's arms forever," Tee cooed.

"What?! No!" Copter loudly denied, frantically waving his hands for extra emphasis. "No no no, it's not...I didn't...NO!!!"

To make things worse, Tee, who apparently witnessed the whole incident, was making the most out of his opportunity to indulge in his favorite pastime (which was, of course, making fun of Copter). At least Kimmon had already walked away and wasn't joining the teasing, Copter noticed. If Kimmon was still standing in front of him, Copter wasn't sure if he could control his stupid heart, which was STILL malfunctioning at the moment. 

He really needed to get a grip and fix this damn problem that he had with Kimmon or else people were going to start noticing his weird reactions towards Kimmon, and it was going to make things really awkward even if it absolutely(/hopefully) wasn't some sort of crush, and _what in the world is Tee doing on his phone?!_

"P'Tee!!!" Copter yelled in panic. "When did you take that?!?!"

"When you were making love eyes at P'Kim."

"Wha?!?! I was not making love eyes..." Copter started to protest, but then shook his head. Now was not the time to argue. "UGH! Just delete it!"

Tee was currently bragging his phone to Copter, or well, proudly showing him what was on the screen: a beautiful candid shot of Kimmon holding Copter up in his arms and the two of them just staring deeply into each other's eyes.

If he wasn't one of the subjects, Copter had to admit that he would have sincerely complimented Tee for his mad photographing skills, but right now, Copter really needed to snatch Tee's phone and smash it against the wall. With that thought, Copter started to make grabs at Tee's phone. Tee, who was laughing in delight at Copter's panicked reaction, gracefully deflected Copter's attacks (which added to Copter's frustration).

"P'Tee! Seriously, delete it!!!" Copter shrieked, not giving up.

"Okay, okay, I'll delete it," Tee finally surrendered.

_Huh?_

Abruptly stopping his failed attempts of getting Tee's phone in his hands, Copter looked at Tee in confusion. During the time that he had known Tee, Copter knew for a fact that Tee was not one to give in so easily. 

Patting a perplexed Copter gently on the head, Tee smiled sweetly. "I mean, I already posted it on Instagram, so I don't need it to be saved on my phone," he explained, wearing an innocent expression.

"You did what?!?!" Copter squawked.

Copter grabbed the phone that Tee was now passively handing over to him. True to Tee's word, there it was, the damn photograph, on Tee's Instagram and fully available for the whole world to see.

_This is so not happening right now!_

Copter wanted to melt into a puddle and disappear from existence.

Regardless of whether or not Copter was having a mental breakdown, Tee merrily skipped over to the other 6MOONS members to show off his proud accomplishment. To his pleasure, the team was quite impressed. 

Godt, who was in the midst of waking up from one of his naps, sleepily gave a thumbs-up upon seeing the photograph. Tae shook his head with an amused smile, like he always did when Tee was up to no-good mischief. Bas had a serious expression on his face as he carefully analyzed the photograph. _Perhaps Tee could use a different filter to better highlight the romantic vibe of this special KimCop moment?_ Upon Bas's suggestion, the four of them all crowded around Tee's phone and proceeded to engage in vigorous debate over what the perfect filter was.

Copter just looked at all of them in disbelief. As much as he loved all his fellow members, at times like this, Copter really just wanted to smack them all.

Defeated, Copter sulked off and plopped himself down in the corner of the practice room, trying to be as far away as possible from the others. He actually wasn't too upset at Tee or the others (seriously, he was used to all their playful teasing by now), but he was very frustrated with himself these days. 

Lately, Copter was spinning way out of control whenever a certain someone was involved, and, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't keep his cool in front of that certain someone.

"Hey," said the certain someone as he seated himself next to Copter.

Copter froze for a second before slowly turning his head to look at Kimmon, who was offering him one of the ice pops that their manager had just bought from the convenience store. 

The other members, who had put aside Tee's phone for a moment, were rummaging through the bags and fighting like little kids over all the snacks. Copter couldn't suppress a smile at that. They were all such dorks.

"Strawberry's your favorite, right?" Kimmon asked rhetorically. He peeled off the wrapper and positioned the red ice pop right in front of Copter's mouth, urging him to take a bite.

Copter was pretty sure that he never voiced out his favorite flavor of ice pops before, but Kimmon probably figured it out by attentively observing Copter during the time that they knew each other. Although Kimmon was notorious among the fandom as being a devilish prankster (ranked equally to Tee), he also proved to be the perfect leader because he paid attention to even the smallest details when it came to taking care of his members.

Feeling a bit moved and shy, Copter hesitantly opened his mouth and took a small bite. 

"You know, it's your fault. All the guys can't resist making fun of you because your reaction is so amusing," Kimmon remarked as he watched Copter eat.

"Uh-huh," Copter accepted. Again, he really wasn't mad at anyone but himself.

"They all love you," Kimmon added.

"Mmm-hmm," Copter mumbled. Starting to feel a little self-conscious with Kimmon being by his side, he was trying to focus all his attention on devouring his strawberry ice pop and his mouth was currently stuffed with all its delicious cold sweetness.

"But, of course, I love you the most," Kimmon concluded.

At that final statement, Copter almost choked on his ice pop and gaped at Kimmon, who responded with a flirty wink. Copter felt his face starting to flush up.

_Not again!_

Laughing, Kimmon reached out his hand to ruffle Copter's hair. "See, you're too cute when you're all flustered," he chuckled, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was reddening Copter's blush.

Avoiding any further eye contact, Copter pretended to return his attention back to the ice pop in his hand, attempting to ignore Kimmon's distracting presence. He really hoped that Kimmon didn't notice his latest reactions towards him because he wasn't sure whether he could solve his "little problem" anytime soon.

***


	2. From The Very Start

**Chapter 2: From The Very Start**

  
_Random 6MOONS Fact #2: Copter is the lead vocal of the team. Although he is the second youngest, (to his dismay,) all the other members and even the fans treat him as if he is the baby of the group._

***

Perhaps it was from the very start, from that very first day when Copter saw Kimmon for the first time.

After being repeatedly rejected from several different entertainment agencies and when he was just about to lose all hope in everything, Copter finally experienced a miracle in his life. It had been his last audition of the day, and despite feeling quite disheartened from his previous failures, Copter had still given it his all, just like he always did for any and every performance.

Catching his breath after his performance, Copter had nervously looked ahead at Nick, his judge who had introduced himself as the director for the company's new boy band project. He had jumped in surprise when Nick suddenly stood up and started to applaud with enthusiasm.

"YES! PERFECT!" Nick had excitedly praised a speechless Copter. "Your voice is exactly what we were looking for!"

Copter couldn't believe his ears at that. He had wanted to confirm that what he just heard was true, but had been afraid that the minute he asked, he would find out that he was just making it all up in his head.

"But, unfortunately, I don't have the final say on whether you pass," Nick had confessed, a bit apologetically. "You'll need to come in one more time and audition in front of the other members."

_Okay, so it wasn't a final pass, but it was still a callback!_ That had delighted Copter because it was much more than what he had been getting in his other auditions.

So, there he was, a few days later, back in the same audition room, as jumpy and nerve-wrecked as ever. 

Copter's anxiety level instantly skyrocketed at the sight of the four strangers standing next to Nick because they were some of the most handsome men that he had ever seen in his life. _Did they choose all the members by their good looks?_ he thought, feeling his confidence plummeting.

_Wait, now is definitely not the time to feel all worthless and shit!_ Copter desperately told himself. He proceeded to fix his posture, standing up as straight and tall as possible. _First impressions lasted forever, right?_

Copter gave the brightest smile that he could come up with in the midst of all his nervousness, proudly revealing his signature dimples. "Hi everyone, nice to meet you all! My name is Copter," he cheerfully greeted the group, preparing to extend handshakes to each person. 

Contrary to his expectations, though, as soon as he introduced himself, he was suddenly attacked by a charging force and momentarily crushed in its suffocating embrace.

"OMG HE'S SO CUTE! CAN WE KEEP HIM?! SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME THAT WE CAN KEEP HIM?!?!?!" squealed his attacker as he squashed Copter even tighter in his arms. 

Copter was having a difficult time breathing.

"Tee!!! Don't scare him off already!!!" another guy scolded as he roughly dragged Tee (who was refusing to let go) away from Copter. "Sorry about that," he apologized on behalf of Tee to Copter, who was wheezing and completely short of breath. 

_What the hell just happened?!_

If that wasn't enough for shocking introductions, the youngest-looking boy, who had been thoughtlessly chewing on a gummy worm, abruptly leaned towards Copter and closely peered at Copter's face from just a few inches away. 

_WHOA._

Even in his surprised state, Copter appreciated the fact that the boy was really beautiful, with such fair-white skin, big eyes and long eyelashes. Yet, Copter was feeling very uncomfortable by the boy's intrusion of his personal space, so he took a small step back with an awkward smile. The boy grinned widely and took a huge step forward, completely thwarting Copter's attempts to keep a distance.

"He has dimples! TWO DIMPLES! I like him!!!" the boy happily declared as he started to poke incessantly at Copter's dimples with his free hand. 

Copter just blinked, not really sure what to do. _What the hell?!_ he thought for the second time in the past few minutes. 

Fortunately for him, the tallest man in the group came to Copter's rescue, shaking his head in exasperation and slapping the boy's hands away from Copter's face. 

"Okay, okay, Tee and Bas, stop creeping Copter out, and everyone sit down," Nick commanded, trying to get things in order. "Wait, where's Kim?"

"He's not answering his phone," the fair-skinned boy responded, pouting a little from being stopped from his poking and back to munching on his gummy worms.

"Still? Ugh, why is he so stubborn?" Nick muttered under his breath. "We'll have to do without him for now." Giving a friendly smile at Copter, Nick gestured for him to go to the mini-stage in the front center of the room. "Copter, whenever you're ready, please go ahead."

Copter nodded. Although he was a bit shaken from what just happened, his nerves for the audition clearly overshadowed whatever shock he had received. 

Taking a deep breath, Copter stepped onto the stage, took out his guitar from the case, and carefully positioned it in his hands. He then closed his eyes for a minute, mentally preparing to lose himself in the beautiful song that he was about to sing.

_When your legs don't work like they used to before_

_And I can't sweep you off of your feet_

_Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love_

_Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks_

_And darling I will be loving you 'til we're 70_

_And baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23_

_And I'm thinking about how people fall in love in mysterious ways_

_Maybe just the touch of a hand_

_Oh me I fall in love with you every single day_

_And I just wanna tell you I am_

_So honey now_

_Take me into your loving arms_

_Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars_

_Place your head on my beating heart_

_I'm thinking out loud_

_Maybe we found love right where we are_

_\- Thinking Out Loud, by Ed Sheeran -_

Copter let out a final breath and took a moment to gather back his senses, just like he always did after a performance. Every time he sang on a stage, wherever and whenever it was, he poured out his heart and soul, immersing himself in the melodious flow of sounds and wishing with all he had that he was able to deliver the wonders of the music to his audience.

After fully regaining his senses, Copter blinked a couple of times, a bit confused at the long silence that had consumed the entire room. 

_Was something wrong?_

Just when Copter's anxiety level was about to escalate again, an excited yelp broke the silence. "Can we please keep him, P'Kim? PLEASE???" Tee begged as he leaped onto the stage and attempted to glomp Copter again.

_P'Kim?_

Trying his best not to suffocate again in Tee's tight arms, Copter turned his eyes to the new person who was standing in the back of the room, unbeknownst to him. _And whoa again!_ Seriously, Copter was 100% sure that the members must all have been chosen by their good looks because this man was also very handsome, quite breathtakingly so, that Copter was momentarily mesmerized when he laid eyes on him. 

The handsome man wore no expression on his face, and his deep black eyes were completely fixed on Copter.

"Everyone, I think we finally found our lead vocal," Kimmon ultimately announced, smiling broadly.

Upon Kimmon's announcement, the other members cheered and joined Tee in smothering Copter inside a huge group hug. But, before realizing that he had just heard the long-awaited words of his dream finally coming true, Copter couldn't process anything for a moment. All he could focus on was the way Kimmon's lips had lifted upward, the way Kimmon's eyes had crinkled perfectly, the way Kimmon's smile had shone so bright like a million stars dancing on a clear night sky...

Copter unconsciously smiled back at Kimmon, not fully aware that his heart was fluttering like crazy.

***

Copter took several deep breaths, in and out, in and out.

He always had butterflies in his stomach before every performance, especially the ones where the band came back with a new album. He was totally confident that he memorized every note, beat, and word of their new song, but he still couldn't stop his nerves from ramping up during the minutes right before going onstage.

Copter closed his eyes, replaying the band's new title song in his head one last time. He was softly singing along to the chorus when he felt his feet being suddenly pulled away from him.

_What the?!_

His eyes shooting open, Copter found the culprit to be Kimmon, who was kneeling with one knee on the ground right in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Copter asked, very confused.

Kimmon positioned Copter's feet closer to him and shot a disapproving look at Copter. "You always trip and fall because your shoelaces aren't properly tied up," he pointed out, frowning.

True to Kimmon's words, both of Copter's shoelaces were loose and hanging down on the floor.

"P'Kim, I can do it myself!" Copter shouted, a bit annoyed and quite embarrassed. He was not a baby who couldn't even tie his own shoelaces (despite what all the members and the fandom thought for some inexplicable reason).

"Just watch and learn," Kimmon ordered, swatting away Copter's hands that were attempting to snatch the shoelaces from him. "Unless you were plotting to trip and fall into my arms again?" he then surmised, eyeing Copter suspiciously.

"What?!"

At Copter's startled expression, Kimmon laughed out loud. "Baby, don't put yourself in danger just to be in my arms. All you have to do is ask and I'll hold you in my arms for as long as you want," he continued to joke.

With a death glare, Copter attempted to kick Kimmon, making him laugh more. 

"Okay, okay, keep still," Kimmon relented. 

He proceeded to focus his attention on carefully tying the shoelaces on Copter's shoes, both left and right foot. As he quietly watched Kimmon, Copter bit his lips, trying to will the blush that was spreading slowly across his face to go away.

"Nervous?" Kimmon asked as he looked up at Copter, finally done with his task.

"A little bit," Copter admitted, nodding his head.

"No need to be!" Kimmon reassured Copter with a smile, his twinkling eyes meeting Copter's. "I never told you, right? The first time I heard you sing, I felt like the whole world stopped for a second. And all that existed for me at that moment were you and your voice."

"I appreciate your efforts in making me feel better, but no need to go overboard," Copter murmured, rolling his eyes with an amused smile.

"I'm not exaggerating," Kimmon denied, chuckling softly. With a serious expression, he then looked up, gazing into Copter's eyes. "Your voice is magical, and I knew the instant I heard you that you were the one. The perfect voice for our 6MOONS band."

Copter stared back, forgetting to breathe for a moment. 

"So don't be nervous. You're going to captivate the lucky crowd out there today, just like how you made me fall in love with you when I first saw you," Kimmon declared playfully with one of his signature winks.

_Could P'Kim give some sort of warning before he attacks me like that?_ Copter thought in exasperation, feeling his heart starting to pound furiously and spin out of control once again.

Grinning, Kimmon stood up and held out his hand to him. 

Copter eventually smiled back, hesitating a little bit before taking Kimmon's hand. New butterflies began to dance in his stomach, this time not from nervousness but from the warmth of the hand that he was holding.

***


	3. Just Not As Fun

**Chapter 3: Just Not As Fun**

_Random 6MOONS Fact #3: Tee is one of the guitarists in the group, along with Tae. Although he is known as the silly prankster in the fandom, he is also called the "Mom" of the team from the way he takes good care of his members, especially Copter and Bas._

***

The band's comeback was a huge success, with all the songs in their album hitting the top of the charts instantaneously. It was truly a great relief and blessing to all the members, each of whom was always so grateful for all their fans' love and support. Alongside that successful comeback, though, were days of tight schedules filled with round-the-clock music performances, promotion events, and interviews.

The members were currently on their way to attend their last schedule of the day: a press interview for their international fans. As everyone had been physically exhausted lately, it was quiet inside the van, with every member catching up on his lack of sleep for the past several days. 

Everyone except for Copter, who was slightly coughing, and Tee, who was currently checking the temperature on Copter's forehead.

"How are you feeling?" Tee whispered, worry written all over his face.

"I'm okay P'Tee," Copter whispered back, reassuring Tee with a small smile. He let Tee continue to feel the temperature on his face, his hands ever so gentle as they touched Copter's forehead and cheeks. 

Since this morning, Copter hadn't been feeling too well. His throat was quite sore, his head was mildly hurting, and he was feeling slight aches all over his body. He assumed that he had caught a cold, which really sucked in his current situation. Fortunately for him, Tee, being his motherly self, immediately had noticed Copter's condition right away and had been taking care of Copter all day.

"Do you want to sit this one out and get some rest?" Tee asked again. 

He actually had wanted Copter to rest for the entire day, but Copter had declined. It really wasn't that bad, and Copter didn't want to burden the other members with his absence or let down any fans who had sacrificed their time to come see him.

Copter shook his head. "No, it's fine. And it's our last schedule of the day. I'll just rest afterwards." He glanced at Tee and added, "P'Tee, you should get some sleep too." 

Copter knew that Tee was probably tired as well, but that he hadn't been able to rest that much today because he was constantly checking up on Copter.

"Aww is baby Copgi worrying about me?" Tee cooed playfully, making Copter roll his eyes with a smile.

"Yeah, because I don't want you to get sick either," Copter still admitted.

Tee smiled sweetly at Copter's concern. "Don't worry. I don't get sick that easily. But if I do, you can take care of me then. Okay?" he compromised.

Copter nodded his head and closed his eyes, feeling Tee's fingers brush against his forehead once again. Although he never said it out loud before, he was always so grateful and glad to have a caring member like Tee by his side.

***

Barely opening his eyes, Copter reluctantly tried to wake himself up from such a refreshing nap. It didn't help that he was also feeling quite comfortable and relaxed at the moment. Gradually gathering his senses, he realized that his current feeling of comfort came from the fact that his head was snugly leaning on something. 

Something that felt like a person's shoulder.

"P'Tee?" Copter guessed, blinking his eyes a couple of times to focus his vision before lifting his head.

"Why do you assume it's Tee?" a voice replied back at once.

A voice that clearly wasn't Tee.

Copter froze for a second. Turning his head, he met eyes with Kimmon, who was slightly frowning at him.

_What the?!_

Frantically looking around, Copter also noticed that the car was very empty, there being no one else except for the two of them.

_Where is everyone else? And what about the interview?!_

At Copter's anxious expression, Kimmon promptly calmed him down. "Hey, it's okay. You didn't miss anything. They wanted to conduct the interview in pairs. Godt and Bas first, then P'Tae and Tee. We still have another hour or so until it's our turn."

Relieved, Copter drew out a breath. He was so worried that he had somehow slept through everything.

Seemingly amused by Copter's emotional roller coaster for the past few minutes, Kimmon was grinning widely. "By the way, Cop, I had no idea that your head was so heavy! Literally, it's like a boulder," he joked as he stretched out his arm and massaged his shoulder.

Copter blushed in embarrassment. "You should have woken me up!"

"I tried, but you didn't respond," Kimmon countered with a shrug.

_Oh shit, seriously?!_

Copter knew that he was a heavy sleeper and that it usually took a few times for people to wake him up completely. So, given that he wasn't in his best condition right now, it was highly likely that Kimmon was speaking the truth, which was extremely horrifying.

Kimmon chuckled at Copter's panicked expression. "I'm joking. I didn't wake you up on purpose," he confessed.

"P'!"

Brightly smiling at Copter's glare that followed, Kimmon subsequently grabbed a plastic bag that was perched next to him and took out a small bottle of medicine.

"You need to stop colds early on," Kimmon explained upon seeing Copter's confused look. "And, look, I even got you liquid medicine!" he exclaimed while he proudly showed Copter what he was holding, a bottle of berry-flavored liquid medicine for cold and flu relief. 

Copter gaped at the bottle in disbelief. "P'Kim, I can take regular pills just fine," he argued, slightly annoyed.

"Just in case it's hard for baby to swallow those big pills," Kimmon teased.

_Seriously, this baby joke needs to stop now!_

Laughing heartily at Copter's pout, Kimmon carefully measured out a dose of the medicine in the small cap and placed it right in front of Copter's mouth. "Open up!"

Copter glared at Kimmon once again, but nevertheless obeyed Kimmon's order and let him pour the medicine inside his mouth.

_Ewwwww!!!_

Copter scrunched up his face at the taste of the medicine, a strange mix between artificial sweetness and nasty bitterness. He totally would have preferred swallowing pills. 

While Copter was suffering through the unpleasant aftertaste, Kimmon quickly unwrapped a piece of candy and held it in front of Copter's lips. "Here, strawberry candy."

Wanting to get rid of the gross residue from the medicine as soon as possible, Copter eagerly opened his mouth to take the candy from Kimmon's fingers. Rolling the sugary candy inside his mouth, he then glanced at Kimmon, who had started to laugh out loud. At Copter's questioning look, Kimmon just smiled and petted Copter's head gently.

"Copter, don't get sick," Kimmon murmured. His smiling face suddenly switched to a serious expression. "You have no idea how upset it makes me."

_Huh?_

Not fully comprehending what Kimmon was saying, Copter looked at him with a perplexed look. They met each other's eyes for a silent while, with Kimmon still wearing a grave expression and Copter beginning to flush up as he gazed into those black eyes. Just when Copter was about to force himself to tear his eyes away, Kimmon's solemn face broke out into a huge grin.

"You know, it's just not as fun. Teasing a sick baby," Kimmon finally clarified.

Copter rolled his eyes, shaking his head in irritation. "Okay, I promise that I won't get sick just so that you can fully engage in your favorite activity," he grumbled with a frown.

"Good, you better keep that promise," Kimmon laughed again. Unexpectedly, he then gently pushed Copter's head back onto his shoulder. "We still have some time. You should rest up some more," he whispered to Copter, who had frozen up in shock.

After taking a few seconds to process what had just happened, Copter immediately sprung his head back up. "No, it's okay! I'm awake now!!!" he shouted desperately.

Frowning, Kimmon thwarted Copter's frantic attempts to get up. "Listen to your leader," he ordered firmly while he carefully positioned Copter's head back onto his shoulder again.

_Damn it._

Given the wild thumping of his heart (which he really hoped Kimmon couldn't hear), Copter was pretty sure that he wasn't going to get any more sleep now. A million sensations were consuming his entire existence, and they were making him so dizzy. The warmth of Kimmon's body next to him, the firmness of his broad shoulder, the freshness of his distinct scent, the tranquility of his soft breaths... 

But, even if he couldn't rest, he really didn't have any intention of moving away. Quite honestly, Copter wanted to just stay there, right by Kimmon's side, for as long as he could. If possible, perhaps even forever.

***


	4. A Friendly Reminder

** Chapter 4: A Friendly Reminder **

_Random 6MOONS Fact #4: Tae is one of the guitarists of the team, along with Tee. He is the oldest in the group. In the fandom, Tae is known as the "Dad" who always tries to establish some order when the other hyper members start getting out of control (but, to the fans' amusement, he always fails)._

***

"And next question is for Copter!"

To promote their new album, the 6MOONS members were currently on one of the country's most popular radio programs, hosted by rising entertainer DJ Joe. All the members genuinely enjoyed coming out on radio shows, given that it usually was a comfortable setting where they could directly interact with and get live reactions from their fans. The team had just sung their new title song in the booth, and DJ Joe was now asking questions that fans were texting or posting online to each individual member.

Copter's turn was next. He looked with anticipation at DJ Joe, who was scrutinizing the screen in front of him to pick an appropriate question.

"Ooh, this is such a classic question from the fans," DJ Joe chuckled to himself before continuing. "Copter, if you had to date any of the 6MOONS members, who would it be?"

_Seriously?!_

Speechless for a moment, Copter just gaped at DJ Joe. 

_Out of all the hundreds of questions, he had to choose that one?!?!?!_

Copter suppressed his urge to do a facepalm. It was as if the fans and DJ Joe knew about his most vexing problem right now and they were just rubbing it in his face for fun.

Eyeballing the door, Copter briefly considered making up a random excuse and escaping out of the booth. He dismissed the idea, though, figuring that it would probably draw more unnecessary suspicion on himself.

Ultimately giving in to his situation, Copter glanced around the studio at the other five members. He definitely knew who he wasn't going to choose, so he quickly skipped over that person. Bas was currently munching on various snacks that the fans had provided for the team, Godt was looking at Copter with his typical curious but sleepy expression, Tee was wiggling his eyebrows at him and sending him several different versions of hand hearts (which made Copter roll his eyes), and Tae was calmly taking a sip of his bottled water. 

When Copter laid his eyes on the final person, he smiled widely. _Perfect!!!_

"Definitely P'Tae!" Copter blurted out, quite loudly.

An unsuspecting Tae choked on his water and coughed heavily. Tee shot Copter a wounded look while handing over tissues to Tae, who was still coughing.

"Tae, are you alright? It seems like Copter's confession caught Tae by surprise!" DJ Joe laughed in delight. "So, Copter, why would you choose Tae?"

"Well, as all the fans know, P'Tae is super friendly. He's also very warmhearted, taking care of all the members and looking after us all the time," Copter started out. 

Now that he was thinking about it, Tae was indeed the perfect pick! So many reasons kept flowing out of his mouth without much thinking.

"He truly is the big brother in our team, someone who I look up to because he's just so cool and talented in many ways. He's also the first person that I go to when I have some sort of worry because he's a very good listener and always gives the best advice. And not to be shallow or anything, but he's hot! I mean, who would say no to those handsome looks and perfect body?!"

Very satisfied with his answer, Copter grinned broadly. Yet, it seemed that no one else really shared Copter's pleasure because a dead silence had consumed the entire studio, making Copter slowly lose his big smile and wear a confused expression instead. All the members were just wordlessly staring at him, even Bas who had stopped munching on his snacks to join the staring. 

_Why is everyone giving me strange looks?!_

Copter took a quick peek at Kimmon, who was just staring at him with no expression written on his face. He immediately turned his eyes to Tee, who was shooting him a scandalized look. Copter mouthed back a ' _what'_.

"Umm wow, Copter, that was such a passionate confession!" DJ Joe exclaimed with an amused giggle, breaking the weird silence. "It's as if you were actually harboring secret feelings towards Tae all this time! Tae, how do you feel after hearing that? Will you accept Copter's love?"

"Of course," Tae replied with his signature gentle smile, playing along. "I feel very honored. And if I were asked the same question, I would definitely choose to date Copter too."

Tae playfully winked at Copter, who smiled and returned the wink in an instant. 

_P'Tae was definitely the best choice for this_ , Copter thought again with relief.

***

"And our lucky guy is Copgi!" Tee squealed in glee. "Hurry along now."

After several hours of nonstop group practice following the radio show, all the members started to get hungry for a midnight snack. When that happened, the members proceeded with their normal routine. They assembled together (with very serious expressions on their faces) and resorted to an honorable round of rock-paper-scissors to select the lucky member who would make the trip to the convenience store and buy everyone food.

Given that bad luck had been clinging onto him lately, Copter wasn't too surprised that he had lost. He still pouted a little, though, as he stood up and put on a cap, preparing himself to go outside.

"Hey, we can't send Copter outside alone. It's too dangerous," Godt suddenly said.

"Huh? Why is it dangerous?" Copter asked, a bit perplexed. Whenever the other members had to make the trip, they had always gone alone.

"Because you'll get lost," Godt answered with such a serious expression that Copter couldn't tell whether he was joking or not.

"Or follow some random stranger offering you candy," Tee chimed in, echoing Godt's solemn face.

"I'm not going to get lost! Or follow some random stranger!" Copter furiously denied, realizing the teasing had started yet again. "I'm seriously NOT a baby!!!" he declared for what was probably the billionth time to all the members.

"Should we do another round of rock-paper-scissors?" Bas suggested to the others, all of whom were blatantly ignoring Copter's heated protests.

"P'Tae, you should go with him. Since we all now know that you're Copter's secret crush," Kimmon abruptly recommended with a blank look.

Copter flinched at that. 

_He really has no freaking idea, does he?!_

He stared at Kimmon, feeling a mixed emotion of huge relief at Kimmon's ignorance and a slight bitterness at the sheer irony of it all.

"Aww yeah I totally second that! Let's give Copgi a chance to go on a date with his beloved P'Tae," Tee joked while he pushed a smiling Tae towards Copter's direction.

"Wait, but wouldn't that be dangerous for P'Tae then? What if he gets jumped by P'Ter? Who just can't contain his lust for P'Tae's handsome looks and perfect body?" Bas considered loudly. 

Everyone burst out in laughter upon Bas's exaggerated shrieks. Well, everyone except for Copter, who was frowning.

"Oh my god, guys, it's literally right in front of the building. I can go by myself!"

With that frustrated yelp, Copter stormed out before anyone else could follow. 

Seriously, the guys had way too much fun teasing him and treating him like a baby. Even Bas! Who was younger than him and obviously the one and only baby in the group.

Feeling irked, he stomped his way down the stairs and out the back door of the building, right until he heard a familiar voice shout out his name.

"Copter!" 

Copter stopped his steps and turned around to see Kimmon, who was breathing heavily from sprinting down the stairs to catch up with him.

"What are you doing here?" Copter asked.

"I lost a round of rock-paper-scissors," Kimmon sheepishly confessed.

"I can go by myself!" Copter repeated again, pouting.

"We all just worry about you, okay? And, hey, on the bright side, you get to have an handsome escort!" Kimmon reassured him. He then paused for a second, giving Copter a knowing look. "Oh, are you disappointed that I'm not P'Tae?"

Copter glared daggers at Kimmon. _I_ _f he only knew the truth!_

Laughing, Kimmon gently pushed him towards the direction of the store. "Off we go," he hummed.

The two began to slowly walk together, side by side, in a comfortable silence. Or, as comfortable as it could be, with Copter again trying to ignore his loudly beating heart.

"You know, I'm really good-looking and tall. One nickname that the fans call me is Prince Charming," Kimmon suddenly started to brag out of the blue. "And my personality's amazing. I get along with everyone really well, and people tell me that I'm pretty funny."

_What the hell?!_

Copter gave Kimmon a weird look, but, ignoring it, Kimmon continued on with a grin.

"And you remember that time when I got you medicine because you were getting sick? And when I tied your shoelaces? And how I'm always by your side, ready to catch you when you trip and fall?"

"So what?" Copter eventually asked, cutting off Kimmon's self-loving monologue.

"Just thought that you needed a reminder."

"What reminder?"

"A reminder of all the reasons for why you should like me."

At a loss for words, Copter stared at Kimmon, who was still smiling at him. _I definitely don't need a reminder!_ he thought, exasperated, but Kimmon didn't need to know that.

"Yeah and I also remember all the times that you made fun of me," Copter grumbled instead.

Kimmon smirked. "Hey, you should know by now that all my teasing is just my expression of love for you!"

"Uh-huh."

"Fine, if that's upsetting you, then I'll just have to shower you with hugs and kisses," Kimmon declared before blowing him a mock kiss.

Copter winced. "Please don't," he mumbled as he pushed Kimmon away from him.

If Kimmon kept true to his words, Copter would literally get a heart attack and die on the spot. He already had a difficult time trying to control his stupid heart as it was now.

Sulking moodily in his depressing thoughts, Copter jumped in surprise when he felt a sudden warmth grasping his right hand.

"What are you doing?" Copter stammered, attempting to free his hand out of Kimmon's strong grasp.

With a slight frown, Kimmon thwarted Copter's attempts and interlocked their fingers. Copter's heart skipped a beat.

"To tell you the truth, it's actually kind of scary out here," Kimmon said, lowering his voice. "It's so dark."

Copter blinked in confusion. "What?"

"It'll be less scary if you hold my hand," Kimmon said while shooting across a pair of pleading puppy eyes.

Copter gave back a disbelieving look. Kimmon chuckled and gently squeezed Copter's hand, swinging their arms together up and down in a childish manner.

"And you're calling who a baby?" Copter eventually said, giving up on trying to release his hand.

Copter took a deep breath. _This is nothing_ , he told himself. He was just being an awesome team member who was helping to alleviate his fellow leader's fear. This hand-holding was completely innocent, merely a gesture of their beautiful camaraderie.

He ignored the little voice in his head that was laughing crazily at the sheer nonsense of what he was trying to tell himself. _It's definitely not camaraderie from your side_ , the voice loudly noted. _I know that you're secretly hoping that the way to the store would be a bit longer. Wishing that this moment would last just a little longer because you don't want to let go of his hand anytime soon._

Copter tried his best to ignore that annoying voice, even though he knew that he really couldn't deny its claims.

***


	5. What Makes An Awesome Leader

**Chapter 5: What Makes An Awesome Leader**

_Random 6MOONS Fact #5: Bas is the keyboardist in the group. He is the youngest member and therefore called the baby of the group, along with Copter. At the same time, though, the fandom jokes that Bas is the "big shot" in the group with the most power, given his ability to manipulate the other members as he pleases._

***

Looking into the lens with a slightly dazed expression, Copter changed his pose to closely follow the photographer's instructions. Several flashes of light went off as the excited photographer incessantly took a string of photos capturing Copter's new poses. Copter assumed that was a good thing. It meant that he was being very professional about this and was able to be a satisfying model, even though he was having a really difficult time concentrating at the moment.

One factor interrupting his concentration was the fact that he was feeling extremely shy and awkward. It didn't occur to him at all that the photographer would choose him out of all the other members to be the model of this particular setting: a spacious outdoor swimming pool which required a shirtless Copter to do several different poses in the water. 

Usually, shots that called for any shirtlessness were left to Tae and Godt, who had amazingly sexy abs to show off to the world. Not that Copter wasn't in good shape (he also had nice-looking abs, thank you very much), but Copter was more used to taking photos that called for his cuteness and youthfulness, which, now thinking about it, was probably why the fans kept seeing him as a baby.

So he guessed that this would be a wonderful opportunity for him to get rid of his baby image and transition into a sexy young man. Yet, Copter couldn't help wincing the entire time the makeup artists carefully applied black eyeliner on his eyes and put a slight reddish tint on his lips. He wasn't ready for a sexy makeover, and he definitely had no idea how to pull off any sexy poses, especially in the water.

But what was ruining Copter's focus the most was a certain pair of eyes that he could literally feel drilling into him throughout the filming. He really wanted to scream at the holder of those eyes and beg him to please leave him alone so that he could try to finish this painful photo shoot as soon as possible. 

After what seemed like an eternity, the photographer signaled that everyone should take a short break. Copter immediately got himself out of the water, running his hands through his wet hair. Before he could ask the staff for a dry towel, though, his entire body was swamped by a humongous one. The culprit turned out to be a frowning Kimmon, the holder of those drilling eyes mentioned above and who had been driving Copter completely crazy for the past hour or so.

Kimmon focused on wrapping Copter up with the huge towel (which Copter had no idea where he even got), almost suffocating him in the process. Copter tried to loosen the towel, but, to his frustration, Kimmon kept tightening it around him even more and was now trying to drape a smaller towel around Copter's head.

"P'Kim! I can't breathe!!!" Copter yelled. "And I'm going to go back in the water in a few minutes, so there's no need to dry my hair right now."

"Stay still," Kimmon scolded him. He re-positioned the smaller towel so that it was covering Copter's entire face. "Unless you want to get sick again."

"Why are you even here?" Copter asked, attempting to keep the towel out of his face. "Are you done shooting?"

"It's not my turn yet," Kimmon replied, his tone nonchalant.

_Damn it, why not?! And why wasn't P'Kim inside the studio, taking care of the other members who were also filming their individual shots?!?!?!_

Copter really didn't need Kimmon to be standing here, observing his awkward attempts to look as sexy as possible for the camera. 

To make the situation even worse, Copter soon caught sight of Tee, who was skipping out of the studio towards his direction.

"DAAAMN! My baby Copgi is looking smokin' hot today!!!" Tee hooted, a mischievous smile dancing on his lips.

Tee looked over Copter's body, eyeing him in a playfully perverted manner. Copter threatened to kick him. 

"Wait, why are you hiding all the skin?" Tee asked with a frown. 

He subsequently tried to remove all the towels covering up most of Copter. Before Copter could swat Tee's intrusive hands away, though, Kimmon beat him to it.

"P'Kim! Why are you hogging sexy Copter?" Tee pouted. "I want my share too."

"Who's sexy?" Kimmon shot back. "He looks like a drenched baby panda."

Beyond shocked, Copter gaped at Kimmon. _Drenched baby panda?!?!?!_

Tee started to cackle hysterically. "OMG, NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT, HE DOES!!!" he squealed as he attempted to take pictures of Copter with his phone.

Copter smacked Tee away while glaring daggers at Kimmon, who was now smirking. At moments like this, Copter seriously just hated his life.

***

Peering into the mirror, Copter slowly turned his face to the left and then to the right.

First, he was pretty amazed that the eyeliner and the lip tint still remained on his face, even after hours of shooting outside in the water. Talk about effective makeup. 

Second, he was trying to get a sense of how the new look suited him. He didn't think it looked too terrible on him, but Kimmon's words from earlier this morning kept resonating in his head. Did he really look like a baby panda?

_Uumph!!!_

Cutting off Copter's sulky thoughts was a Bas who suddenly dumped his entire body onto Copter's back. Stumbling a little bit by Bas's sudden attack, Copter tried not to lose his balance.

"Hey Bas," Copter greeted over his shoulder, on which Bas rested his chin.

"Hi," Bas returned weakly.

Copter recognized that tone of Bas's voice. It signaled that Bas was kind of grumpy at the moment, and a grumpy Bas only meant one thing.

"Hungry?" Copter asked to confirm his hypothesis.

"Starving," Bas groaned. 

Giving out a dramatic sigh, Bas then proceeded to chew on Copter's shoulder. _Quite viciously._

"Oww, Bas!" Copter cried out. "I'm not food!!!"

At Copter's pained yelp, Bas immediately softened his bite, but he let out a small whimper. Despite the stinging pain, Copter couldn't help but smile at that. Bas was seriously such a puppy.

"Okay, later tonight, let's sneak out," Copter offered to Bas, his voice quiet so that the other members couldn't hear him.

Bas perked up. "And?"

"And get a late night snack," Copter finished with a duh.

Bas grinned widely. "Just you and me then," he added. "So that there's more food for us."

Copter chuckled. "Deal."

Instantly brightening up at Copter's idea, Bas hugged Copter tightly from the back and nuzzled his face on Copter's shoulder. Feeling ticklish, Copter giggled and let a happy Bas sway his body back and forth. 

No matter how many times he thought about it, Bas was clearly the one and only baby in 6MOONS. Copter really had no clue why the fandom and the members kept calling him a baby too.

"Bas!" Kimmon abruptly called out from the other side of the room.

"What?" Bas shouted back.

"The director wants to see you," Kimmon said as he sauntered over to Bas and Copter.

"Me? Why? I thought we were done filming."

"To talk about your photos? Don't know, but he wanted to see you now. Hurry up."

"Ugh."

Reluctantly, Bas let go of Copter and slowly made his way over to the studio. Copter turned his gaze to Kimmon, who was staring at him with a slight frown on his face.

"We're done filming," Kimmon said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I know," Copter acknowledged, a bit confused.

"Do you want to wash up before we head back?" Kimmon asked.

"Aren't we heading back home? I was going to wash up when we get back to the dorm."

That was what all the members normally did, especially if it was their last schedule of the day. 

Still frowning, Kimmon released a small sigh and whispered something inaudible under his breath.

"Huh? What did you say?" Copter asked, leaning a bit closer towards Kimmon in order to hear him better.

Kimmon stilled for a moment, just staring at Copter wordlessly. Copter stared back in confusion.

"Nothing," Kimmon eventually whispered after a brief silence. "Let's go. The other members are waiting in the van."

Copter nodded his head, getting ready to head out. Yet, he was abruptly stopped in his tracks by Kimmon, who started to put a mask on Copter's face.

"What are you doing?"

"It's a little chilly outside."

"We're only going to be outside for a few minutes," Copter argued, but Kimmon didn't budge.

"And, in those few minutes, you could get yourself sick," Kimmon explained before proceeding to put his sunglasses on Copter's face.

"And what's this?"

Copter was getting more and more confused by the second because Kimmon was acting really weird right now, way more than usual.

"To protect your eyes. The sun's shining really brightly outside," Kimmon justified.

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about me," Kimmon said, looking quite satisfied. "I'd rather protect you than me." 

"What?"

"Aren't I'm such an awesome leader?"

With a satisfied grin, Kimmon grabbed Copter's hand and led him out of the studio. Copter gave up trying to understand Kimmon's strange behavior, especially because his attention was now fixed on their tangled fingers. Lately, Copter noticed that Kimmon really liked to hold hands, which frustrated his frantic attempts to control his Kimmon-induced reactions.

"What's with the criminal look?" Tee asked, looking puzzled when he spotted Copter's masked face.

Kimmon dragged Copter with him to the back seat of the van, given that all the other seats were already occupied by the other members. Glancing at Kimmon with a frown, Copter took off the sunglasses and face mask.

"Ask P'Kim," Copter replied back to Tee _._

At Tee's questioning look, Kimmon just returned an innocent shrug.

"Where's Bas?" the manager asked after he took count of who was in the van. 

As soon as those words left his mouth, the door of the van burst open, revealing a fuming Bas who was trying to find the source of all his fury.

"OMG P'KIM I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! WHY'D YOU LIE TO ME?!" Bas screamed when he finally laid eyes on Kimmon.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The director never said anything about seeing me! Do you know how stupid I looked, going up to him and asking him what he wanted to talk about? He gave me such a weird look!!!"

"Oh, I guess I heard wrong then," Kimmon said before giving Bas a smirk. "Hey, but at least you got some exercise, eh? Aren't I such an awesome leader for making sure that you keep in shape?"

Bas shot a death glare at Kimmon, who was now laughing in delight. He roughly shoved Kimmon to the side and pushed his way in between Kimmon and Copter.

"Oww, why are you trying to sit here?" Kimmon whined.

"Well, all the other seats are taken," Bas pointed out. "And I feel so very loved by our awesome leader that I wouldn't ever miss a chance to sit next to him."

Bas smiled sweetly before swinging a bunch of violent punches at Kimmon, who yelped in pain and returned them in an instant. The other members, who were so used to the pair's bickering, didn't seem at all concerned and were calmly busying themselves with other activities.

Copter scooted closer to the side of the van in order to avoid being a poor victim in Bas and Kimmon's fight. At least, he didn't have to be on the edge of his seat trying to keep himself under control. Feeling comfortable and slightly relieved by the fact that Bas was sitting next to him, Copter leaned his head against the window and tried to get in a few minutes of sleep after what happened to be an exhausting day.

***


	6. At A Complete Loss

** Chapter 6: At A Complete Loss **

_Random 6MOONS Fact #6: Godt is the bassist in the group. It is rumored in the fandom that Kimmon successfully persuaded Godt to join the team, on the one condition that Godt would not be asked to do any singing or dancing (or to do as little as possible)._

***

Sighing heavily, Copter mindlessly rolled around on his bed. He was very frustrated with himself right now because he should be feeling very happy and content, as he was currently supposed to be enjoying his long-deserved break after a month of nonstop busyness. Copter was also in the most relaxing position ever, one where he was lazing in bed with his phone in hand.

But, despite all that, Copter was feeling quite miserable. He tried to deny it and tried to occupy himself by listening to loud-beat club music, turning on movies and TV shows that he didn't have the time to watch before, munching on his favorite snacks and sweets...

Nothing worked.

He knew why he was feeling so gloomy. Although he hated to admit it, Copter's misery came from the fact that he was missing the presence of a certain someone who had gone to Guam last night in order to take part in a popular variety show.

_Damn it!_

Copter banged his head several times on his pillow, hoping that it'd help him come back to his senses. Seriously, that certain someone, Kimmon, was only going to be gone for a couple days, but he just had to mope around like a pathetic lovesick puppy!

It also didn't help that Kimmon was going to come out in a couple-matching program. It was one of those stupid ones where young male and female entertainers went on a romantic trip together, with the ultimate goal of getting matched up in pairs. Copter grumpily thought that all such programs should just disappear from the world. Their fans certainly hated it when they came out on shows and fake-wooed female celebrities.

Copter's face scrunched up in displeasure as he scrolled through the posts on his phone. Fans had already started posting photos and videos that revealed glimpses of what was going on in Guam. Of course, Kimmon had to look so amazing in his floral shirt and beige shorts, his handsome face clearly outshining all the others. He also kept smiling brightly at the female celebrities, who looked so awed by his presence.

Copter stopped and stared at one particular photo of Kimmon and Amy, a rising Thai actress who had recently got cast as one of the female leads in a highly anticipated TV series. They looked so great together, their gorgeous features matching each other so beautifully. The longer he looked at the perfect couple on his screen, the dizzier he felt from the abrupt rush of all the bitterness and wretchedness swirling around in his heart.

Breaking Copter away from his depressing thoughts was an alert from Instagram, which notified him that Kimmon had just posted something. Copter eagerly went into the app and was greeted by a cute selfie of a smiling Kimmon.

_Damn it, why does he have to look even more handsome than usual?_

Slightly frowning, Copter zoomed in on the picture to get a better look. Due to his clumsiness, though, he accidentally pressed the picture twice and ended up liking it within mere seconds of Kimmon posting it. _Shit!_

_\- KIM: Someone misses me waaaay too much :D_

Of course, given his bad luck, Kimmon immediately noticed what Copter had done and sent him a LINE message in an instant. Copter groaned, wondering why he always made a fool of himself. He quickly texted a message back.

_\- COP: Whatever floats your boat._

_\- KIM: Haha XD whacha doing?_

_\- COP: Just chilling._

_\- KIM: Ahhh jealous :(_

Foolish or not, Copter brightened up at the chance to talk to Kimmon because he really did miss him, more and more with each passing second.

_\- COP: :P Are you done filming for the day?_

_\- KIM: No, on a short break right now. Need to get back on set in a few._

_\- COP: Then, su su na! Win the hearts of all those girls!_

It was a good thing that this conversation was through texts because he totally would not have been able to say that with a straight face.

_\- KIM: Thanks, but I only wanna win the heart of one person :)_

Copter's heart dropped. That picture of Kimmon and Amy kept circling inside his head, zooming in and out on their beautiful smiles and highlighting their perfect chemistry.

_\- KIM: Aren't you going to ask who?_

Not aware that Copter was having a mental breakdown, Kimmon impatiently sent him a follow-up text and shot another bullet at Copter's poor heart.

_\- COP: Not curious_

_\- KIM: Whaaat? Why not? Give some love and attention to your leader :(_

Copter let out a forced laugh. Kimmon got it completely wrong. The problem wasn't a lack of love and attention, but that Copter's feelings for his leader were overflowing to the point where it was drowning him senseless.

_\- KIM: Just got called back on set. Will text again when I get a chance!_

Copter bit his lips, tearing his eyes away from his now silent phone. 

He wondered yet again what Kimmon would say if he found out about everything, but, at the same time, he hoped that catastrophe would never actually happen.

***

Sitting in front of the piano in the team's practice room, Copter pressed a finger on one of the white keys and then on one of the black keys. Hearing the sounds made him feel a little bit better. 

Copter realized that he needed to get out of his bed, out of his room, and out of his black hole of endless suffering and misery. So he resorted to his usual solution to all his problems: music _._

Music was everything in Copter's life. It was his good old buddy and pal, and his best support system. It stood by Copter's side throughout all the good and the bad, all the ups and the downs. It boosted his energy when he was feeling a little blue, joined him in his celebrations of triumphs and successes, and soothed him when he felt like tumbling down and falling. 

Right now, he really needed it as an outlet to pour out all the bubbling emotions inside of him. Yet, to his dismay, it wasn't working at a time when he needed it the most. Everything that his fingers started to play was ruining his mood even more because he kept playing heartbreaking love songs, the ones with lyrics that made him want to cry along.

_Get a grip_ , he told himself. _What are you going to do when P'Kim dates someone? Are you going to crash and burn each and every time that happens? And what are you going to do when P'Kim eventually finds his perfect match and gets married?_

Just the mere thought of that happening choked him up with tears.

He had to get over this. _If P'Kim found out._ _If the other members found out._ It'd be ideal if they just laughed at him and brushed it off as some immature boy crush, but they could also think that it was disgusting. Repulsive. _Definitely pathetic._ Because what the hell did Copter think he was doing, falling in love with another member in their band when they were all supposed to be a family? 

They had promised each other from the very start to stay together through anything and everything. _Remember guys, we're going to go down in history as the longest-running band,_ they would always say to each other. Yet, Copter was on track to mess up the dreams of his beloved members because he couldn't control his stupid feelings.

_Seriously, what in the world is wrong with me?!_

After crashing his arms down on the keyboard, Copter buried his face in his arms. An ugly clash of disharmonious sounds pierced through his ears.

"Hey, don't take your anger out on the poor piano. It didn't do anything wrong."

Copter froze at the sudden voice behind him. He immediately stood up and turned around to spot Godt, who was lazily getting up from the sofa in the room and giving him a frown.

"P'Godt! What are you doing here?" Copter stammered, surprised.

"I was taking a nap until you showed up."

_Why the hell was he taking a nap in the practice room?_ Copter wondered at first but then quickly dismissed the thought. It was Godt, someone who could fall asleep literally anywhere.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" Copter apologized. "I didn't notice that you were there."

Copter cleared his throat and, realizing that his face was wet with tears, he roughly wiped his eyes with his hand. He let out an awkward smile, feeling embarrassed that he was caught in such a sorry state.

Godt's face softened. "Don't worry about it. I needed to get up in a few minutes anyways. My next schedule is in about half an hour," he said as he held up and dangled a booklet in the air.

"Ooh, is that the script for the next season?" Copter asked while he walked over and sat next to Godt. "What scene are you practicing today?"

Godt had been cast in a TV series that successfully ended with high ratings and, due to its popularity, was on board for another season. Godt's character was especially popular, even though he was a side character. He played the role of David, a handsome heartthrob who finds himself helplessly in love with the female lead. Although David didn't win the heart of his love, he swooned all the viewers of the show with his charm. Right now, the actors and actresses of the series were currently attending workshops to practice scenes for the next season.

"I'm not allowed to share spoilers," Godt began to say with a playful smile. He laughed out loud when he saw the pout on Copter's face. "But I'll let you in, as long as you promise not to tell anyone."

Copter nodded anxiously. "I promise." 

He never actually told Godt, but he happened to be an avid fanboy of the series.

"So David is finally going to confess his love to May."

"What? But I thought May was in love with Matt."

"She is, and David knows that. So it's going to be a very emotional scene for David because he's still going to confess, despite knowing that May is going to reject him."

_Ouch._ Copter had a special place in his heart for David, especially since Godt was the one playing him, so hearing about the scene made him feel upset.

"That's so sad. Confessing your feelings to someone, knowing that you'll get rejected."

"But it's better than keeping it all inside."

"You think so?" Copter asked.

Godt nodded. "Yeah, I think it's better this way. David was suffering from all his pent-up feelings. He was miserable because he was holding himself back and locking up all that love inside of him. But, now, at least he gets to let it out. Gets to be relieved from all those emotions gnawing at his heart."

"But he's going to get rejected," Copter countered back. "And, now that May knows, their relationship is going to get so awkward."

"Perhaps. And maybe David is being selfish. But, through this confession, David has given it his best shot. So even if May doesn't accept his love, David could move on a bit more easily because he knows that he tried his best. May might feel sorry that she can't return his feelings, but she should also be flattered. She should know that it's never wrong to be in love. You fall in love with someone because that person is so special, so wonderful to you that you just couldn't help yourself. If that person can't appreciate that fact, then that person doesn't deserve your love and you two surely weren't meant to be."

Copter flinched a little because Godt's words ironically seemed to match up to Copter's situation right now. Plus Godt was staring right into Copter's eyes while he was talking, with such a serious expression that it felt like he was actually giving Copter advice on his problem. 

Putting that weird irony aside, though, Copter eventually let out a wide smile, realizing that Godt had spent a lot of time thinking about his character and his emotional development. He felt so proud of Godt and super excited for the series. 

"This is going to be the best season ever!" Copter exclaimed happily. "Your David is going to be so perfect for the show!"

Godt blinked a couple of times, looking a bit lost at Copter's bright expression, before he began to laugh out loud.

"Thanks," Godt chuckled, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Huh, I didn't know you were such a fanboy."

Copter considered denying it, but he ended up conceding. "I am," he admitted with a smug look. "So keep up the good work."

"I will. Don't want to disappoint my fanboy." Godt laughed again while getting up and stretching out his arms. "Probably should start heading out."

"Okay, good luck with practice today. Su su na!"

"Thanks," Godt said. He paused for a second before opening his mouth again. "Copter, you know that I have a black belt in karate, right? And that I've been learning kickboxing lately?" he randomly mentioned.

"Yeah?" Copter acknowledged hesitantly, confused at the sudden change of topic.

"Just let me know if someone's upsetting you."

Copter broke out into an amused smile. "So you can beat up that someone for me?"

Godt nodded. "Anytime. That's what big brothers are for, right?"

Copter just giggled in response. Godt smiled back and headed out of the room after waving goodbye. 

Leaning against the sofa, Copter kept grinning because he felt so much better after talking to Godt. His good mood plummeted again, though, when he saw a new text that had just been sent to his phone.

_\- KIM: Curious yet?_

Copter frowned. _Why couldn't P'Kim just let this go?_

_\- COP: Nope._

_\- KIM: Why not? :(_

Copter had to think a little bit before coming up with a good excuse.

_\- COP: Because it's a spoiler. I don't want to know until I see the show._

_\- KIM: Huh? But it's not anyone on set._

_\- COP: ???_

_\- KIM: I wanna win the heart of the person texting me right now :)_

Feeling his heart beginning to pound furiously again, Copter couldn't suppress a laugh at the next text that arrived.

_\- KIM: I feel so lost without you baby. Can you tell me the way into your heart? :)_

_\- COP: OMG can you not XD you are way too cheesy_

_\- KIM: I know you miss me :)_

Copter's smile faltered at that. Kimmon had no idea that Copter was dying inside because he missed him so much, but he wasn't going to tell Kimmon that.

_\- COP: I will if you bring back presents :D_

_\- KIM: Such a greedy kid! Okay, I'll come back with lots of toys for you :)_

Copter kept his gaze locked onto the screen, feeling more and more hopeless. 

Music used to be everything in Copter's life, but, now, a certain someone was taking over without his permission. He demanded to be the source of Copter's emotions, the start and end of Copter's thoughts. He forced Copter onto a never-ending emotional roller coaster that flew him up to heaven and crashed him down to hell at his every word and action.

Copter felt so lost and helpless when Kimmon was beside him. Not being able to deal with all his explosive emotions, he sometimes wished that Kimmon would go away. He now realized, though, that he felt even more miserable when Kimmon wasn't by his side.

_What am I supposed to do?_

Music came easy to him. But, with Kimmon, Copter was at a complete loss.

***


	7. Time To Stop

**Chapter 7: Time To Stop**

Very pleased with the success of 6MOONS's latest single album, the director of the company threw a celebratory party for all the members and the staff. It was a bit late in the game, given that the members finished their activities for the album a couple of weeks ago. Yet, it was difficult to set an earlier date because the members had each been busy with their individual schedules. 

Even now, not everyone was present. Tee was on his way over, coming back from practicing for a musical that he got cast on. Kimmon was also absent, planning to join later after he was done with his last schedule for the day.

Among the members, Kimmon had been particularly busy lately. The couple-matching variety show that he filmed in Guam had aired a week ago, and, as expected, the viewers had been captivated by Kimmon's handsome charm and smart wits. They also had fallen in love with all the scenes that Kimmon shared with Amy. The two had matched up as a couple in the show, and, due to their gorgeous looks and beautiful chemistry, they instantly became a rising sensation. So, right afterwards, in order to meet the viewers' demands to see more of the couple, Kimmon and Amy had been called to do more activities together, including interviews, photo shoots, and other variety shows.

"Do you think they're actually dating?"

"They look so perfect for each other."

"Yeah and Kimmon would be a fool if he didn't court Amy after spending all that time with her."

Given the couple's popularity at the moment, gossip among the staff at the party was completely centered on the two's relationship. Copter reached out his hand to grab another bottle of beer, with the intention of chugging it down his throat in one go. The gossipers didn't seem to want to end their conversations anytime soon, and, unbeknownst to them, their words kept stabbing his heart everywhere, making it bleed of misery and flood his soul in sorrow.

"Whoa there, hold your horses," Tae exclaimed as he snatched the bottle away from Copter's hand. Copter was drinking at an alarming rate, which was very concerning given how low his alcohol tolerance was.

At Tae's interception, Copter let out a frown. He really needed to get more alcohol in his system so that he could numb all his senses and drink away all the bitterness that was gripping his heart. Luckily for him, the one who had tried to stop him from his plan was neither Kimmon nor Tee. It was Tae, who had a certain weakness that worked in Copter's favor.

"But, P'Tae, I'm not getting drunk at all," Copter whined with a cute pout. "Just one more, hmm? Please, P'Tae? Pretty please?"

Copter intentionally stretched out all his words and clung onto Tae's arm with his best puppy eyes. Tae visibly flinched because, as Copter knew very well, Tae had a huge soft spot for all things that were adorable.

Faced with a dilemma, Tae glanced over at the other two members with a huge SOS sign flashing in his eyes. Bas was intensely focused on eating all the food on the table and didn't seem to even recognize what was going on around him. Tae turned his eyes over to Godt, who just shot him a _he's-your-child-and-not-my-problem_ look and shrugged his shoulders. Tae shot back a look of exasperation.

"Please, P'Tae? Please?!" Copter continued to plead.

"Okay," Tae eventually gave in with a heavy sigh. "But just one more. And drink slowly."

_Success!_

Grinning widely, Copter quickly nodded his head several times. Sighing again, Tae surrendered the bottle to Copter's anxious hands.

***

Copter sulkily plopped himself down on the floor of the practice room.

His plan to drown himself in alcohol was brought to an end as soon as Tee showed up. Tee had screeched loudly when he saw how many bottles Copter had drunken, glared furiously at Tae (who looked guilty as fuck) and Godt (who was pointing the finger at Tae), and slapped Copter's hands away from his attempts to grab another bottle.

Copter hadn't given up at first. "Please, P'Tee-Tee? Just one more? Please?!" 

Copter's "P'Tee-Tee" attacks usually got him what he wanted, but, this time, (although he had flinched a little and looked like he was trying hard not to smile), Tee hadn't budged.

"No," Tee had sternly said. "You're done."

"But P'Tee-Tee," Copter had tried again. "I'm not drunk at all!"

"You are," Tee had pointed out. At Copter's sad puppy face, though, he had backed off a little. "Fine, if you want more, go splash some water on your face in the bathroom and wake yourself up. Then, I'll let you have another drink after a couple of hours."

Copter had frowned at that, and, like a rebellious teenager, he hadn't followed Tee's orders.

Instead of heading to the bathroom, Copter had made his way over to the practice room. If his Plan A (aka getting dead drunk) wasn't going to work out, then he needed to proceed with his Plan B, which was finding a place to hide until he could control himself again. Tee didn't understand that Copter had wanted to be drunk senseless and eventually get knocked out unconscious before Kimmon arrived. He really didn't have the heart to face Kimmon, especially not now.

Copter hugged his knees with his arms and buried his face in them. Now that he was alone, he didn't have to hold back all the tears that had kept threatening to pour out. 

He hated all of this. Hated himself. Hated how he couldn't stop himself from falling for Kimmon. But, seriously, what was he supposed to do?! 

Since the day that he first heard them, Godt's words stuck with him and constantly replayed inside his head. _You fall in love with someone because that person is so special, so wonderful to you that you just couldn't help yourself._

It was true. Copter really couldn't help himself from falling in love with Kimmon because Kimmon was just so special, so wonderful to him. _Because he was just P'Kim._

Copter started to feel a little sorry for his heart, for his love that he never gave a chance to ever appreciate. All this time, he was so anxious to silence it, so focused on beating it down and locking it up in a cage deep inside of him. Maybe that was why he wasn't able to stop it. His heart was already ripping apart into shreds from Kimmon's words and actions, but he just stomped on all the broken pieces without giving it a chance to properly heal. So maybe that was why his wounded heart lashed out at him, unable to deal with all the overwhelming pain that he dumped on it.

"Copter? Is that you?"

A sudden voice calling his name brought him back to reality. Copter lifted his head up. 

_Shit._

To his dismay, the one person that he didn't want to see right now was looking straight back at him, trying to meet his eyes. Copter quickly turned his face away and cleared his throat. He was glad that it was dark inside the room.

"What are you doing here?" Copter asked, attempting to keep his voice from trembling. "Did you stop by the party? Everyone was waiting for you to come."

"I was looking for you," Kimmon answered. "What are you doing here, all alone in the dark?"

Copter hesitated for a second before coming up with a vague response. "I just needed to think about something."

"Think about what?"

Panic swelled within him. Copter needed to get out of this room, get out of Kimmon's sight, and get to a place where he wasn't alone with Kimmon. He knew that it was a very bad idea to be here with Kimmon, especially when he was on the verge of spinning out of control.

"We should go back," Copter said, ignoring Kimmon's question. "Everyone's probably waiting for us."

With that, Copter hastily got up from the floor, but he stumbled a little bit due to his numb legs that had fallen asleep. At once, Kimmon reached out his arms to prevent him from falling. Yet, Copter instantly jerked away, leaving Kimmon's arms awkwardly hanging in the air.

"I'm okay," Copter mumbled, his voice barely audible. "Let's go."

Still avoiding Kimmon's questioning gaze, Copter started to walk over to the door, but he didn't get very far. Kimmon stopped him in his tracks, his hands grabbing Copter's shoulders and holding onto them tightly despite Copter's attempts to free himself.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Kimmon asked, frowning.

"I'm not avoiding you," Copter denied.

"Then look at me."

Copter didn't move. At Kimmon's persistence, though, he eventually complied, slowly turning his eyes to him.

As soon as he met Kimmon's eyes, those black pools filled with so much concern for him, the tears started to fall down again. He couldn't stop them. Or, rather, he was too tired to even try right now, just like how he felt so sick and tired of trying to desperately hide all his feelings for Kimmon.

"Are you crying?" Kimmon asked, his voice thick with alarm and worry. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, P'Kim," Copter apologized, and, before he could stop himself, he stammered out some of his truth. "I just need some time."

"Time for what?" Kimmon sounded confused.

"Time to stop this."

"Stop what?"

Biting his lips, Copter squeezed his eyes shut. _No, Copter, no! Don't do it_ , his brain frantically screamed at him. Yet, he was so exhausted, so worn out from everything. All the alcohol was now getting to his head as well, muffling the screams of his brain and muddling all his thoughts.

Godt's voice echoed again in his ears. _But it's better than keeping it all inside. He was miserable because he was holding himself back and locking up all that love inside of him. But, now, at least he gets to let it out. Gets to be relieved from all those emotions gnawing at his heart._

Feeling suffocated, Copter opened his eyes. Kimmon was still staring right at him, with worry written all over his face. Kimmon's concerned face stabbed more daggers into his heart. _Why does P'Kim always have to be so caring? So good towards me?_ He didn't deserve any of Kimmon's affection. He didn't deserve it at all.

Copter couldn't take it anymore and poured out his heart.

"Stop all of these stupid feelings. Stop myself from getting flustered every time you're near me. Stop myself from missing you like crazy when you're not around. Stop myself from thinking about you all day, every day. Stop myself from wishing that I could be by your side forever. Stop myself from loving you."

His throat still choked up with tears, Copter breathed heavily. He had let it out. He had finally unlocked all those heavy emotions rumbling inside of him, which had grown with every passing second into a self-destructing hurricane of unrequited love. To his disappointment, though, he didn't feel that much relief. Instead, he felt empty. Defeated. _Broken._

"I'm sorry, P'Kim." _I'm sorry for loving you,_ Copter swallowed back inside. "I just need some time to get over this. And I'll stop whatever this is, but I just need a little more time."

Honestly, Copter wasn't sure if he could keep true to his words. He wasn't sure if a little more time would solve any of this. In fact, at this point, it seemed more likely that he'd be trapped in this love for an eternity. But he could try his very best. He would certainly keep trying until everything turned out okay because he didn't want to lose anything. He didn't want to lose his 6MOONS members. He didn't want to lose Kimmon.

A dead silence consumed the room. Out of guilt and misery, Copter turned his eyes away from Kimmon and cast his sullen gaze down to the ground. He couldn't bring himself to face Kimmon right now because he was afraid of what he would see in Kimmon's face. He was terrified of what he would hear from Kimmon, who now knew the truth.

After what seemed like forever, he finally heard Kimmon's voice again.

"No," Kimmon said quietly. "I can't accept that."

Copter's heart dropped and crashed to the ground. 

Of course, what had he expected to get out of this? Kimmon was disgusted by him. He probably thought that he was such a pathetic loser, a foolish boy who couldn't differentiate love from brotherly affection. Copter regretted the past few minutes of his life. He should have just kept it in.

At Kimmon's next words, though, Copter froze up completely.

"Because I don't want you to stop. I don't ever want you to stop any of that."

Copter heard a small sigh followed by a soft chuckle.

"You really have no idea, huh?"

Kimmon carefully lifted Copter's face, which was wet with tears that were still falling down from his widened eyes. Cupping his palms on Copter's cheeks, he proceeded to gently wipe all the tears away. Kimmon then stared for a lasting moment, keeping their gazes locked. Copter blinked back a few times, not fully processing what was happening.

Seconds of tense silence ticked by until, after giving another smile, Kimmon leaned in and kissed Copter.

The moment their lips met, Copter's world turned upside down and everything went black.

***


	8. On The Same Page

**Chapte** **r 8:** **On The Same Page**

This was definitely one of the worst mornings that he had ever experienced in his life.

As soon as Copter painfully opened his puffy eyes, it felt as if his brain was rapidly swelling up and violently pounding against his entire skull. On top of that, a wave of dizzying nausea swallowed up his whole body, making him feel like he was going to throw up any second. He needed to remind himself never to go near alcohol ever again.

Groaning loudly in sheer agony and discomfort, Copter reluctantly rolled out of his bed and stumbled his way to the kitchen. Although he didn't want to move even an inch, his strong desire to quench his thirst urged him to get up.

"Regretting it now?" Tee asked with a disapproving look when he caught sight of a dead-looking Copter.

"Completely," Copter agreed. He gratefully took the glass of water that Tee poured out for him and gulped the water down his throat. "What happened last night? How did I get back?"

His memories of last night were pretty fuzzy. All that came to his cloudy mind was his very stupid decision to chug down bottle after bottle of alcohol down his throat. _Ugh._ Copter scrunched up his face in disgust. Just thinking about alcohol made him feel sick all over again.

"You don't remember anything? P'Kim found you passed out in the practice room and brought you back to the dorm," Tee informed him, a huge frown on his lips. "Seriously, what were you thinking going there all by yourself? What would have happened if P'Kim didn't find you?"

Copter momentarily froze. _Passed out? Practice room? P'Kim?_

Tee's endless scolding gradually faded away into the background because all the memories started to rush back into his head. Memories of him crying. Of him trying to avoid Kimmon. Of him confessing his feelings to Kimmon. Of Kimmon lifting his face up. Of Kimmon wiping his tears away. Of Kimmon leaning in and...

"FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Copter's sudden loud cursing startled Tee, making him drop the eggs that he was holding in his hands and create a dirty mess on the floor. 

"What the hell?!"

Tee glared at Copter, appearing very upset and concerned at the same time. Yet, before Tee had a chance to give him a piece of his mind, Copter had already raced back to his room. 

As soon as he reached his room, Copter slammed the door shut, dove into his bed, and hid himself under the covers. _What in the world happened last night?!?!?!_

He touched his lips with careful fingers, beginning to recall the feel of Kimmon's warm mouth against his. _OH MY GOD!_ Copter's face flushed up in an instant, and his heart threatened to leap out of his chest.

_Whoa, calm down!_ Copter told himself. _Think. And don't jump to conclusions. Because maybe it was a dream. Shit, what if I made all of this up in my head?!?!?!_

Taking a few deep breaths in and out, Copter eyed his phone that was on the nightstand. Hesitantly, he reached out his arm and grabbed it. The screen was flooded with notifications of several missed calls and texts, including one message from Kimmon that was sent a few hours ago.

\- _KIM: Can you meet me in the practice room today?_

Copter's heart skipped a beat in panic. He really wasn't sure whether he had the courage to face Kimmon today. Or, honestly, ever again.

***

Chewing on his lips, Copter was wildly pacing around in front of the practice room. He had actually been there for quite a while now, unable to force himself to go inside because he was freaking out. Maybe he should just run away and hide in a cave for a while, and try to avoid meeting Kimmon for as long as possible. _But you can't hide forever_ , his mind sharply pointed out at him.

Copter sighed. He really needed to man up and get over this. 

Taking another deep breath, Copter slowly turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

"Hey," Kimmon greeted him, beaming. "How are you feeling? Did you wake up with a hangover?"

Copter nodded his head with an extremely stiff smile. 

"That's what you get for drinking way out of control," Kimmon scolded him.

Copter just let out a nervous laugh in response. _This was so incredibly awkward!!!_

To his growing confusion, though, it seemed that Kimmon didn't share his unpleasant discomfort at all. Flashing his signature bright smile at him, Kimmon just urged Copter to take a seat next to him on the couch. After hesitating for a moment, Copter walked over to Kimmon.

"So I wrote a new song for our next album," Kimmon started to say. "And I wanted you to listen to it and give me your thoughts."

Copter blinked at Kimmon. The request wasn't anything new given that Copter helped Kimmon with his music a countless number of times before, but it was definitely not what he was expecting to hear from Kimmon right now. 

The tension in his shoulders gradually drained out. Copter felt relieved, but, at the same time, a little disappointed because this meant that all of his heart-stopping memories were fake. Perhaps it was all just a bittersweet dream that his mind concocted to soothe his aching heart.

Trying his best to conceal his letdown, Copter gave a nod. Smiling again, Kimmon immediately placed a set of headphones over Copter's ears. Meeting his twinkling eyes with Copter's, Kimmon then pressed the play button on his phone. 

A sweet melody flowed out of the headphones and into his ears.

_If I have to fall in love with someone_

_I want that person to understand me, to be stable with me forever_

_You made me know that I still have hope_

_Without your love, I would have never known this_

_From your words and actions, from the bottom of your heart,_

_I found the answer that I've been waiting for_

_Let's start counting again from one because our hearts match_

_Let's love each other until our last breath_

_Love like we have always been dreaming of and wishing for_

_I'm not asking for more, just only for you_

_Be the moon of my heart_

_Let's have a happy ending like in a fairy tale_

_Have a true love that lasts forever_

"So what do you think?" Kimmon asked, an anxious expression now on his face.

Copter paused for a second. He was still coming back to his senses, gradually recovering from the lasting moments of the heart-stirring song that he had just heard. "It's beautiful," he ended up saying. 

It truly was. The melody and the lyrics were simple, but they were tightly packed with so much raw emotion that took his breath away. What made it even more beautiful was Kimmon's precious voice singing it, making Copter feel like Kimmon was whispering the sweet confession of love right into his ears and straight at his soul.

"Do you like it?" Kimmon asked.

Copter nodded his head with a sincere smile. If he could, he actually wanted to keep a copy of this version of the song, the one with Kimmon's voice, because he was certain that he could and would listen to it forever.

"Good," Kimmon said. "Because I thought of you when I wrote this song. It's my love song for you."

"What?!" Copter squeaked, bewilderment crossing his features. He wasn't sure whether he heard right.

"Hmm?" Kimmon cocked his head to one side. "I thought you'd be so thrilled and happy! Don't tell me you changed your mind since last night? When you cried your eyes out and told me how much you loved me?" he reminded him, a playful grin spreading across his face.

Copter felt heat rise to his cheeks, his face rapidly reddening at the memory of his pathetic confession to Kimmon. 

_OMG, so it wasn't a dream!!!_

Not giving Copter even a second to get over his embarrassment, Kimmon continued to jog Copter's memory. "Remember? You told me how you thought about me all day, every day. About me and my handsome looks and my hot sexy body. And how you would do anything and everything just to be in my arms one more time and to be given the chance to hug me and kiss me and..."

"I never said that!!!" Copter yelped with a horrified expression, cutting off Kimmon's ridiculous speech.

Kimmon's eyes glistened with amusement. "Ah-ha! So you do remember."

Copter gaped at Kimmon, unable to formulate thoughts and put words in his mouth. Kimmon just kept smiling. His eyes softened with affection and were completely fixed on Copter.

"It's okay," Kimmon reassured him. "I don't mind having a horny boyfriend."

_Who's horny?!_ Copter wanted to deny again that he said those absurd things that Kimmon claimed that he did. Before he could do so, though, his brain picked up on Kimmon's last word, which instantly snatched away all of his attention. _Boyfriend?_

Copter goggled at Kimmon, who was now shooting him a knowing look.

"Oh, I thought we were dating now? You know, what two people who are in love with each other do?"

Copter's mind went completely blank. He was at a total loss as to what to do because never, not even in his dreams, did he expect this scene to play out.

With a widening grin, Kimmon suddenly wrapped one of his arms around Copter's waist. He then yanked Copter closer to him so that their faces were only a couple of inches apart from each other.

"So what do you say?" Kimmon softly whispered, his eyes gazing intently into Copter's. "Are we on the same page?"

Copter felt like his chest would burst any minute now, with his heart thundering like it always did whenever he was with Kimmon. Given his close proximity to Kimmon right now, he was pretty sure that Kimmon could hear everything. But, even though he was shy and embarrassed, he didn't back away this time. He didn't have to.

Gradually breaking out into a shy smile, Copter met Kimmon's gaze and nodded his head. 

Beaming at him, Kimmon took Copter's hand in his own and held it over his chest. "Wonderful. Because my heart's been like this ever since the day I first saw you. And I can't seem to stop it, no matter how hard I try."

Through his hand, Copter could feel Kimmon's heart beating furiously at an uncontrollable speed that matched his own. Copter eventually laughed, partially in disbelief and mostly in awe. Kimmon laughed along with him, his face radiating with pure happiness.

With matching smiles on their faces, they gazed at each other until Kimmon slowly started to lean in closer, his head tilted to the right and his lips aiming straight for Copter's. Copter's eyes widened. 

Right when their lips were about to meet, though, Kimmon abruptly paused. "You're not going to black out on me again, right?" he asked, wearing a thoughtful expression.

"I was drunk last night!" Copter spluttered. He immediately regretted it when Kimmon chuckled.

"Still, let's test it."

Before Copter could get another word in, Kimmon lightly pecked him on the lips and backed away a couple inches. He carefully examined Copter's face, checking for any negative signs. Copter just looked adorably stunned, his eyes almost popping out in shock. 

Kimmon gave out a satisfied smile. "Okay, test trial's over. Now close your eyes."

Copter could barely breathe, enchanted by Kimmon's deep black eyes that were filled up with so much love and affection, want and desire. _All for him._ Trembling, Copter took one last look at Kimmon and obediently closed his eyes.

***

For a moment, Kimmon silently stared at Copter, who was waiting with his eyes closed. _Just for him._ He was shining so bright, as if the whole world blacked out and the sky shone a blinding spotlight right on him. It was exactly like how he glowed so beautifully when Kimmon first laid eyes on him. 

Copter really had no idea how long Kimmon had been dreaming of this moment, wishing for this miracle.

Gently cupping Copter's face with his hands, Kimmon leaned in and completely closed the distance between them.

Their lips locked onto each other, with their hearts finally matched and beating together in unison. It was the perfect love song that they created together, the sweetest melody that they had ever played in their lives.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * The song lyrics are from Pchy's 'Can we count from 1?'. I don't take any credit for the words to that song.


	9. Epilogue - The First Encounter

**Epilogue - The First Encounter**

It was from the very start, from that very first day when Kimmon saw Copter for the first time.

Music was, simply put, everything in Kimmon's life. Ever since he realized that ultimate truth, forming a band that performed the songs that he wrote had always been his one and only dream. After stumbling over a countless number of obstacles along the way, Kimmon was now, finally, so close to crossing the finish line. He knew he had been very fortunate to meet each and every one of his four members, and even more lucky when he had been able to successfully persuade them to join his band. It had been a string of victories after that, with the team passing an audition for a fairly renowned entertainment company and being in line for a debut in the near future.

For once and for all, everything was moving along so smoothly for him. That is, it was until the director of the company dropped a bomb right on his tracks.

"He wants you to add a lead vocal to the team," Nick had relayed to Kimmon. "He thinks you guys are great but missing that one last spark that would make your team ultimately shine."

Kimmon hadn't been too smitten with the idea, but he easily admitted that the director had a point. In fact, for the longest time now, Kimmon had actually tried to find a vocal for the band. But, despite all his long and hard efforts, he had continuously failed, and he eventually came to accept that there just wasn't anyone out there that would meet his expectations.

At Kimmon's crestfallen face, Nick had sighed. "We know how important this is to you and your team. So we promise that we'll give you guys the final say on whether someone comes in, okay?" 

Kimmon had given in to the compromise, knowing that the only other option would be to quit the company. That was definitely an option that he wanted to avoid at all costs. 

Checking the time on his phone, Kimmon quickened his steps. He was running late for a long-awaited get-together with his friends. He had lost track of time as he sat through endless auditions for the past few hours. _Hours and hours of sheer disappointment_ , he bitterly thought to himself.

Given that it had been a while since he saw his friends, he figured that this meet-up would take away some of the stress that was driving him crazy lately. In particular, to his anticipation, they were getting together to root for one of their close friends who had recently formed an indie band and was scheduled to perform at a highly popular college festival. 

"What did I miss?" Kimmon asked after greeting his friends and taking a seat next to them.

"Nothing much," Pat replied. "They're doing a mini-event right now to kill the time. Some sort of performance contest for a prize."

"Yeah?" Kimmon said as he glanced at the stage.

"Hey, maybe you could find your lead vocal right here," Jay joked.

Oh, how he wished he could because it was seriously getting way too ridiculous. Nick kept yapping at him to make up his mind, but no matter who he heard, he just couldn't find that perfect voice. For his whole life, he never could.

"Then tell me," Nick had asked in exasperation. "What kind of voice are you looking for?"

Kimmon had hesitated for a moment before giving Nick an answer. Although his heart knew exactly what it was looking for, it was quite difficult to put into words.

He needed a voice that captured the very essence of youth. All of the wild energy that burst with uncontrollable and raw emotions. Painted with pure sweet innocence. Touched with a hint of vulnerability that was hidden behind high-spirited optimism. Something like what he was hearing right now....?! 

At that last thought, Kimmon froze up. Accompanied by a soft melody played on the keyboard, a sweet voice was singing through the speakers and flowing into his ears.

_I think you're pretty without any make-up on_

_I think you're funny when you tell the punch line wrong_

_I know you get me when you let your walls come down_

_Before you met me I was alright_

_But things were kinda heavy, you brought me to life_

_Now every February, you'll be my valentine_

_Let's just talk all through the night_

_There's no need to rush_

_We can dance until we die_

_You and I, we'll be young forever_

_You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream_

_The way you turn me on, I can't sleep_

_Let's run away and don't ever look back_

_My heart stops when you look at me_

_Just one touch, now baby I believe_

_This is real so take a chance_

_And don't ever look back_

_\- Teenage Dream, cover by Boyce Avenue (original song by Katy Perry) -  
_

"Whoa, that boy can sing," Jay exclaimed.

"Yeah, his voice is pretty good," Pat agreed.

No. Pretty good didn't cover it. It was perfect. _It was everything that he was looking for._

The entire time the boy was singing, Kimmon couldn't stop staring at him. The whole world fell dead and faded away into darkness, except for the boy, who was shining so brightly under a blinding spotlight that was visible only to Kimmon. The boy completely took over Kimmon's universe in an instant, filling up every space entirely with his mesmerizing voice. Kimmon just let him willingly, all his walls crumbling down because he finally found the one voice that he had been searching for his whole life.

***

Kimmon had always believed that he was a very optimistic person who didn't have many regrets in his life. His self-perception quickly changed over the past week, though, because he had turned into a sad sack of regrets ever since the day that he first laid eyes on the boy.

He regretted that he had just stood there stupidly, locked in some inexplicable trance, until he realized that the boy had already left the stage and vanished from his sight. He regretted that although he immediately tried to run after him, he crashed himself into someone carrying a ton of stage equipment and ended up waking up in the hospital a few hours later with a throbbing bump on his forehead. _Seriously, who the hell does that?!_ He was so fucking stupid. 

It had been a week now, and he came up with nothing. Despite going back to the area every single day and annoying the crap out of all the staff who organized the festival and the attendees who were at the scene, he got nothing. _Nothing!_ Kimmon wasn't even able to find out what his name was. It was literally as if the boy was just a figment of his imagination, just a bittersweet dream that he made up in his head.

"Was he hot?" Bas asked with a smirk on his face.

"What?"

"I mean, he must have been smoking hot if you're acting like this," Bas explained.

Kimmon frowned. "Acting like what?"

"Like a lovesick teenager pining after his first love," Tee chimed in with a cackle.

Kimmon just glared at the both of them with menace. What he felt towards the boy couldn't be captured by such a crude statement. Although he secretly thought to himself that, yes, the boy was probably the cutest thing that he had ever encountered in his life, he would never admit that out loud to his members. Especially not to Tee or Bas.

"Come on, Kim, stop being so stubborn," Nick reprimanded him. "I gave you a week and if you still couldn't find him by now, then you won't be able to anymore."

He knew he was being a ridiculous pain-in-the-ass. Yet, the boy was the missing puzzle piece to his world of music and he was unwilling to let go of him so easily without a fight.

"A week is enough," Nick firmly repeated. "And I found another person who was exactly what you were looking for! He was super cute and sweet, and his voice was just perfect for the band!"

Kimmon snorted at that. Unless this person was the boy himself, he seriously doubted that Nick's statement was true.

"Just give him a chance, will you?" Nick pleaded.

Deflating, Kimmon sighed. Although he wanted to keep searching for the boy, even if it took forever, he understood that they were running on a tight timeline. The more he prolonged this decision with his stubborn actions, the more he would put the team's debut at risk.

So he reluctantly agreed to continue on with the auditions and to search for another lead vocal. He also consented to giving a chance to this new guy who Nick wouldn't stop raving about and who was scheduled for a final audition in front of all the members in a few minutes.

Kimmon slowly slugged his way over to the audition room, intentionally taking all his time in order to arrive late. He knew that he was acting like an immature brat, but it just felt so wrong to find someone else. No one would be able to replace the perfection that he had miraculously found.

Having finally arrived, Kimmon let out a heavy sigh and unwillingly opened the door. The second he took in the sight of what awaited him, though, Kimmon completely froze up again. He couldn't believe his eyes. 

_It was him!_

His mind running blank, Kimmon stared at the person ahead of him, the boy who he had been desperately looking for over the past week. The boy had his eyes closed, as he was playing the guitar and singing a beautiful love song with that sweet innocent voice of his. He was the epitome of a young schoolboy, shyly pouring out all of his heart to the one who he fell helplessly in love with. 

As he continued to stare at the boy in a dizzying mix of shock and awe, Kimmon wondered how it would feel to be the lucky person who the boy fell for. _How it would feel if that lucky person was him._ Stemming from that thought, he began to wish that the boy was singing the song just to him, expressing his precious love confession to him alone.

At the moment when the boy opened his eyes and met his gaze, Kimmon finally realized that he had lost his entire world to him. It was the most bizarre sensation, but Kimmon suddenly knew what his future would behold. Kimmon knew that starting from this moment on, his universe would begin and end with the boy. Kimmon would spend all of his days thinking about him and spend all of his nights dreaming about him. Just like that, unbeknownst to him, the boy held Kimmon's everything in his hands. It was actually quite frightening the more and more Kimmon thought about it, but...

The boy smiled at him, with his twinkling bright eyes and gorgeous deep dimples. All Kimmon could do was smile back at him, fully aware that his heart was fluttering like crazy. He was so done for, but it was strangely alright. Kimmon could tolerate all the uncontrollable heartbeats and the painful heartaches, as long as he was able to keep him close by his side.

***

_Copter really had no idea how long Kimmon had been dreaming of this moment, wishing for this miracle._

_\- Chapter 8 -_

***


	10. Epilogue - Not A Secret

**Epilogue - Not A Secret**

"It's okay," Kimmon reassured Copter, smiling.

Copter tried his best to smile back, but his nerves kept ramping up and prevented him from doing so. Kimmon held Copter's hand in his own and gently squeezed it.

"Just leave everything to me," Kimmon confidently told him with one of his signature winks.

Before Copter could stop him, he then burst open the door and dragged Copter inside with him.

"HEY GUYS, WE'RE DATING NOW," Kimmon loudly announced, his voice deafening.

At a loss for words, Copter just gaped at Kimmon, completely flustered. _What the hell?! No fluffy lead-ins to soften the blow?!?!?!_ This was definitely not how he imagined their conversation to start.

An awkward silence fell upon the room as all four pairs of eyes turned towards their direction. The other members wordlessly blinked at them. Kimmon flashed back an arrogant smile, and Copter suddenly looked really interested in the pattern on the wall.

Then several things broke the silence at once. Tee and Bas started to groan out loud in unhappiness, Tae sighed with a deep frown as he rummaged his pocket to take out his wallet, and Godt hooted in joy as he reached out his hands to the other members.

"Pay up!" Godt demanded happily.

"You guys couldn't wait for just three more weeks?!" Bas grumpily yelled at Kimmon and Copter while reluctantly handing his money over to Godt's eager hands. 

"What's going on?" Copter asked, not fully understanding the bizarre situation.

"Godt correctly predicted that you two would get together within three years of our debut," Tae helpfully explained with a gentle smile. "Tee and I had already lost because we each guessed one and two years. Bas predicted four, so he still had a good chance of winning."

Taking a moment to fully process Tae's words, Copter's mouth opened wide when it all finally clicked. "You all placed a bet on us?!" he shouted in disbelief.

"Well, yeah, because you two were so obvious," Bas said, rolling his eyes.

Kimmon frowned. "And what would have happened if we still weren't together after four years?"

"Then we were all going to proceed with Mission KimCop and get you two lovebirds together," Godt answered.

Kimmon put back a smile on his face, nodding in satisfaction. Copter shot Kimmon an incredulous look. _That's your only issue with this situation?!_

"Man, and I was so looking forward to that!" Tee whined. "We were going to lock you two up in a room for a few days. Or find a deserted island that we could strand you guys on."

_The hell?!_ Copter cringed. The mere thought of those schemes happening caused goosebumps to crawl all over his body.

In contrast, Kimmon looked slightly disappointed. "That would have been so awesome," he murmured in a dreamy tone. 

At Kimmon's words, Copter glared at Kimmon with flushed cheeks and smacked him on the arm.

"So how did it finally happen? Who confessed?" Tae asked.

Copter peered at the members suspiciously. "Was there another bet on this?"

"No, but it would have been a good one," Godt considered.

"Because you two were both so equally frustrating!" Bas added, an exasperated look on his face.

Upon seeing Kimmon and Copter's raised eyebrows, Tee shook his head in annoyance and began to explain. "So we all knew that baby Copgi is as dense as a boulder."

"Who's dense?!" Copter denied in an instant.

Tee rolled his eyes. "Come on, Copgi, P'Kim was hitting on you like crazy from day 1 but you had no clue! As much as I thought that P'Kim was such a perv for doing that, I ended up feeling a little sorry for him because you just couldn't take a damn hint!"

"But who knew P'Kim would be as dense as you?!" Godt said, shaking his head.

"I'm not..." Kimmon started to protest, but Tee immediately cut him off.

"Copter was flashing the green light at you this whole time with his love-struck puppy eyes and shy schoolgirl blush!" Tee roared at Kimmon. "But you wouldn't make a freaking move!!!"

"I bet on four years because I knew P'Kim was a coward," Bas jumped in. "If P'Copter wasn't going to confess, then we probably would have had to butt in and get them together ourselves. Because, come on, P'Kim was never going to have the courage to man up and confess to his precious, divine Dream Boy."

At Bas's revelation, a dead silence consumed the room. 

Puzzled, Copter looked around at the other members. Bas wore a knowing smirk on his face. Tae, Godt and Tee appeared speechless from utter shock. Kimmon looked... _what the hell?!_

Copter couldn't believe his eyes. Kimmon looked completely flustered, a shy blush slowly spreading across his face. It was a totally rare sight to witness given Kimmon's usual suave and confident personality.

Tee eventually broke the silence with his booming voice. "He's Dream Boy?! THE Dream Boy?!?!?!" He then threw a furious glare at Kimmon. "You swore that he wasn't!!!"

"Like hell I was going to tell you," Kimmon grumbled, still looking quite embarrassed.

"Yeah, I had to force it out of him when he was drunk," Bas said, looking very proud of his achievement.

"Who's Dream Boy?" Copter asked, still very confused.

"You!!!" the four members shouted in unison, making Copter jump in surprise.

"What?"

After releasing a sigh, Tee grabbed onto Copter's shoulders and met Copter's eyes with a very serious expression. "Copter Panuwat. Four summers ago, did you enter a performance contest at a festival in Kantaphat University? And did you sing Teenage Dream while playing the keyboard?"

"Huh?" Copter blinked a couple of times at the unexpected question. "How did you know?"

"Because Kimmon also happened to be there and fell for you at first sight."

"What?!"

Copter paused for a moment to jog his memory again. During that time of his life, before he finally made it into 6MOONS, Copter had entered into a countless number of performance contests to gain onstage experience. The festival at Kantaphat was just one of many of those experiences. He didn't recall it being particularly memorable, but Kimmon was there that day in the audience watching him?

"But I didn't even win anything that day," Copter said, his voice soft.

With a sweet smile, Kimmon hugged Copter from the back and held him tightly in his arms. "You won my heart over," he whispered into Copter's ear.

Copter's heart skipped a beat, and his face quickly reddened in shyness. 

Their loving moment didn't last very long, though, because the other members immediately booed and jeered at them. Tee and Bas snatched Copter from Kimmon and slapped Kimmon's clingy hands away. Tae and Godt stood in front of them, barricading Kimmon from the others in a flash. Displeased, Kimmon pouted at his denied access to Copter.

"P'Kimmon, if you make our baby cry, I will personally let you know what hell on Earth is like," Tee threatened in a low voice.

"Yup, and you know very well that you don't want to get on my bad side," Bas chimed in with his best intimidating face.

"And I have a black belt. Plus mad kickboxing skills," Godt added, his expression smug. He secretly winked at Copter, who gave back an amused smile.

"Okay guys, I got it. Geez, where's all the love for the leader?" Kimmon complained.

"Copter, be good to P'Kim, okay?" Bas said in a sweet voice as he hugged Copter. "Even though P'Kim can be quite annoying. And stupid. And dense. But he really does have a good heart."

"Yeah, and we will be very sad and disappointed if you make P'Kim cry," Godt said in a monotone, with zero sincerity in his voice. 

After gently petting Copter's head, Tee pinched his cheek. "Unless P'Kim is acting like a jerk. But if he does that, let us know and we'll make him cry for you. No need to get blood on your baby hands."

Kimmon shook his head at the endless teasing. He was grinning, though, especially when he saw how brightly Copter's face was shining from happiness.

"P'Tae, do you have anything to say to the new lovebirds?" Godt asked.

Tae cleared his throat when all eyes turned to him in anticipation. "Copter, can you please tell Kimmon that he's really the only one for you? He won't stop harassing me ever since you said that you would date me on DJ Joe's radio show and he's driving me crazy!" Tae finished off with an exaggerated look of distress.

Everyone burst out in laughter. Kimmon looked a bit sheepish as he tried to deny Tae's claims, but he failed when the other members kept attacking him with stories of what they witnessed. 

"You're such a jealous and possessive freak!" Bas concluded for the group. 

Kimmon eventually agreed. "Yeah I am, so give him back to me. He's all mine." 

With noisy boos and hisses, the members ended up pushing a smiling Copter back towards Kimmon, who immediately caught him and wrapped his arms securely around him. 

"But in all seriousness," Tae continued to say after everyone calmed down. "Kimmon and Copter, just remember that we're all on your side. We all were from the very beginning, and we always will be."

Copter felt his eyes getting wet with tears as his heart swelled up from an overwhelming swirl of touching emotions. He really had no idea how he got so lucky to experience a number of fascinating miracles in his life. First, the miracle of fulfilling his lifetime dream and becoming one of the wondrous stars on stage that he had always admired, ever since he was a small child. 

His eyes slowly took in each and every one of his 6MOONS members, who were all looking at him with so much affection. Second, the miracle of meeting the most phenomenal four men in the world and becoming such a loved member of their family. 

Copter's gaze ultimately rested on Kimmon's twinkling one. Finally, the miracle of having the love of his life fall in love with him. 

Kimmon smiled at him, and Copter smiled back.

***


End file.
